The Future hoops program sending 4 teams to nationals

Ken Powers

Saturday

Jul 1, 2017 at 3:15 AM

That traditional first day of school "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" assignment will be a lot easier this year for more than three dozen Greater Gardner area boys who are part of The Future Hoops basketball program.

That traditional first day of school “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” assignment will be a lot easier this year for more than three dozen Greater Gardner area boys who are part of The Future Hoops basketball program.

The Future program is sending four teams and more than 40 players to the National Travel Basketball Association (NBTA) National Championships, which will be held July 8-22 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and the Crossover Nationals, which will be held in King of Prussia, Pa., July 16-20.

The Future’s ninth-grade and varsity teams will compete July 8-12 at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center while the program’s seventh-grade team will be at the same arena July 17-22. The Future’s fifth-grade team will compete July 16-20 in the Crossover Hoops Inc. Nationals, which will be held in King of Prussia, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia and home to the second-largest shopping mall in America.Lamont Hicks, organizer of the Future Hoops Program and a coach of two of the teams, said the ninth-grade and varsity teams qualified for nationals based on the program’s reputation and the performance of the eighth-grade team last year at nationals.

“We went last year and we almost won it; we lost by four points in the national championship game,” Hicks said. “This year we were accepted back with open arms because they knew we were pretty good last year and figured we would be pretty good again this year.”

Hicks said he asked if he could bring a varsity team with the ninth-grade team and the NTBA was happy to oblige.

“They gave us the green light to bring the varsity team, too,” Hicks said. “How well our eighth-grade team played down there last year opened the doors for the other team to go this year. They established credibility for us.”

Key members of The Future’s ninth-grade team, which this year won the Family First and Back to the Future tournaments, include Lamont “L.J.” Hicks Jr., Josh Jahnz, Luis Maldonado, Damian Willis, Ross O’Toole, Julian Galaraza and Tristan Berg. Hicks, Jahnz, Maldonado, Willis and Galaraza were all on the eighth-grade team that competed at nationals last year.

“Our most consistent players on the team are Josh, Luis, L.J. and Damian,” said Lamont Hicks, who coaches the team. “L.J. and Luis are our primary scorers while Josh is our leading defensive player. That kid can play some defense. He is one of those kids that nobody wants to play against. He’s gritty. He does the extra things. Damian, who is 6-1, is our leading rebounder and shot blocker.”

The Future’s varsity team, which consists of players in grades 10-12, won The Hartford Magic and Back to the Future tournaments this season. Players on the team include Ben Raymond, Kyle Long, Keyshawn Kirkland, Nick Roy, Dylan Woods, Tyler Dill, Jacob Arnold, Charlie Kelley, Spencer Pelkey and Jacob Clancy.

During the last high school season Raymond and Dill played at Narragansett Regional, Long, Arnold and Clancy at Gardner High, Kelley and Pelkey at Monty Tech, Kirkland and Woods at Oakmont Regional and Roy at Murdock.

“We pretty much have all the local stars on this team,” said Lamont, noting that Raymond, Long, Arnold, Roy and Kelley were all named league all-stars this year.

The Future’s seventh-grade team won the Zero Gravity, Family First and Back to the Future tournaments this season. The team members include Christian Rodriguez, Cameron Briton, Quentin Pridgen, Connor Rollo, Tyler Biron, Joe Jarose, Beau Manning, Nick Gramolini, David Luberto, Ryan Theriault, Cameron Leblanc and Jaylen Kirkland.

The Future’s fifth-grade team won the Family First and Back to the Future tournaments this season. Members of the team include Jayden Jones, Jared Nagle, Richie Clayter, Jayden “J.J.” Hicks, Alex Ramos, Josh Rodriguez, Steve Mack, Jordan Nagle, Owen Williams and Lane Berg. Lamont Hicks also coaches this team.

“All the kids are very excited to be going to nationals,” Lamont Hicks said. “The fifth-grade team, we’re going down to Pennsylvania to have fun, do what we do, and after it’s all over we’re going to go to Hershey Park.”

Lamont Hicks said the trips are planned to be a mixture of basketball and good times.

“We try to make it memorable for them,” he said. “In Myrtle Beach what we usually do is get together and have a huge Future family picnic, play some miniature golf, go to the beach and go to the amusement parks they have there.”

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